The present invention relates to an audio system/cup assembly, and, in particular, to an audio system/cup assembly wherein the audio system forms a base of the assembly that is securely mounted on the cup when in use, but easily separated from the cup to enable the cup to be washed, batteries to be replaced, etc.
Workmen and other persons spending considerable amounts of time at a building site, sporting event, out of doors for hunting or picnicking, and at similar locations or performing similar activities often desire to have a beverage available for consumption and to listen to music, sports, news, weather, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,994, issued Dec. 20, 1988, discloses a radio equipped thermos wherein a standard thermos member is connected to a radio member. However, the radio member is either permanently affixed by super adhesive to the thermos member or releasably secured to the thermos member by a magnetic disk or a resilient skirt. A thermos member with a radio permanently affixed to the thermos member renders the thermos member difficult to wash. The thermos member can not merely be placed in a dishwasher without possible damage to the radio. A thermos member releasably connected to a radio member by a magnet requires the thermos member to include either a metal element or a magnet, may increase the cost of the assembly, and depending on the strength of the magnet and how rough the radio equipped thermos is used, may result in the untimely separation of the thermos from the radio. A thermos member releasably connected to a radio member by a resilient skirt requires the thermos member or the radio to include a resilient skirt, may increase the cost of the assembly, and depending on the of the resilience of the skirt and how rough the radio equipped thermos is used, may result in the untimely separation of the thermos from the radio. Thus, while the radio equipped thermos of the ""994 patent is useful, the radio equipped thermos of the ""994 patent presents several problems in care and use which are solved by the radio-cup of the present invention.
The audio system/cup assembly of the present invention includes a cup for holding a beverage; a removable audio system base; and may also include a removable adaptor base for enabling the cup assembly to be placed in a vehicle cup holder. The audio system base may include: a radio, a mp player for downloading and storing a muser""s favorite music from a computer that can be played whenever the user desires, a micro cassette player, and other conventional audio systems. The cup has a threaded opening in the underside of the cup for securing the audio system base or the adaptor base to the cup. The audio system base and the adaptor base each have an upper portion that threads into the threaded opening in the underside of the cup to secure the base to the cup. Preferably, the cup has a handle and the threaded upper portion of the audio system base mates with the threaded interior surface of the threaded opening in the underside of the cup to locate the audio system with the controls facing toward and the speaker(s) facing away from a person holding the audio system/cup assembly when the audio system base is fully threaded into the threaded opening in the underside of the cup. In addition, preferably, the audio system base is greater in diameter than the cup to provide a more stable assembly when the audio system/cup assembly is placed on a surface; for ease of access, the battery or batteries which power the audio system within the audio system base are contained in the upper portion of the audio system base that threads into the underside of the cup; and for better radio signal reception, the radio antenna is an annular antenna, with a diameter greater than the cup, located in an upper surface of the audio system base.